All Fall Down
by ihearttvsnark
Summary: Dante Falconeri's life is flashing before his eyes and all he wants is to see her one more time. Meanwhile, Lulu Spencer knows something is very wrong.


**Author's Note: The first part of this is extremely spoiler heavy. A special thanks to Katy for being an awesome sounding board. **

_If ever your world starts crashing down  
Whenever your world starts crashing down  
Whenever your world starts crashing down  
That's where you'll find me_

It all happened too fast.

One minute he was standing there, his expression hard, badge firmly in hand, saying the words he'd been anticipating for over a year. "Michael Corinthos, Jr., you're under arrest."

The next, he was stumbling backward, falling down, his chest exploding with pain. He landed hard, his head connecting with the wood beneath the expensive rug, more pain.

He closed his eyes and waited – waited for his life to start flashing before him the way people always said it did in moments like this. He felt his own blood soaking his shirt and thought it was odd, maybe even ironic that a casual, laidback guy like him was going to be wearing a suit when he died. Too bad it was his good one and his mother was going to have to find something else to bury him in.

Always with the jokes, even at a time like this, he could hear his mother scolding him like she had done so many times over the years. Telling him he was nothing but trouble and was going to make her old before her time – all the while there was a smile behind her eyes. She never stayed mad at him for long, even when she wanted to, but this might be more than she could take, especially since he wasn't going to be around to talk his way out of it.

Was this how it worked? Just random thoughts popping into his head until it was over or could he focus on what he wanted one last time? He tried to picture her face and it wouldn't come to him, only pain. It was getting harder to take a breath – where were his visions? He couldn't die without seeing her face again.

Was he cold? He couldn't tell, but he wished the numbness would hurry. Anything to get rid of the pain raging through his body. This wasn't like the last time he had been shot or when he had been hit by the car, this was permanent, this was it. He was getting tired, breathing was too much work, just let the pain win.

He felt a new pressure on his chest, almost like a hand pushing down on him. He tried to open his eyes, but it was useless, he no longer had any control. He tried again to picture her face, but all he saw was darkness. Where was the light he was supposed to look for? He needed to find the light and make the pain stop.

"Dante."

In the darkness, he heard his name, his own name, not Dominic, a rare occurrence these days. After all these months of pretending to be someone else, here he was dying on the floor and one of the last things he was ever going to hear was someone speaking his real name. Was that ironic, too?

He heard more words, but they sounded jumbled inside his head. Someone was shouting and crying. The pressure on his chest grew stronger; it wasn't just one hand any longer. Breathing was nearly impossible now, but somehow the pain didn't seem as bad. Was this the numbness he had been waiting for?

He tried again to call her face to his mind and was greeted with nothing but darkness. He wanted to scream and curse the fates and his own bad luck, but he didn't because part of him had always known that this would be the way it ended.

"Dante, can you hear me?"

He recognized his mother's voice. She sounded far away, but instinct told him she was close. He wanted to reach out to her, hug her one last time and tell her not to blame herself; he had known what he was getting into when he took the case. One of her hands was on his face now, and she was talking to him, but the words didn't make sense to his tired mind.

"We're going to get through this."

He heard the words, but couldn't place the second voice. Everything was so far away now, even the pain. This was his last chance to say something, his last chance to let her know how sorry he was that he had done this to her life. He still couldn't see her face and he was never going to hear her voice again. But she needed to know.

Concentrating with every fiber of his being, he opened his mouth. "Lulu, tell Lulu -" His voice sounded wrong in his head and he searched for the words, but they wouldn't come to him. With his mother calling his name and the hands pressing down on his chest, he gave up and welcomed the darkness.

* * *

She knew something was very wrong.

Lulu Spencer stood in the front of the church, beside Jason Morgan with her baby cousin Jocelyn Jacks in her arms, the baby's proud parents, Carly and Jax stood across from them beaming, with the priest in between. The church was filled with family and friends and acquaintances, the whole town seemed to be there with two glaring exceptions.

Dante and Sonny were nowhere to be found.

Her hands had been shaking when Carly had handed her the baby. Her cousin had laughed and teased her about being nervous; Lulu had smiled and let her think that was all it was. After all, she was nervous, she was more than nervous, she was downright terrified. Sonny was supposed to be arrested when the christening was over and life as they knew it was going to change forever.

But the arrest was supposed to happen after the christening and Dante was supposed to be there watching her promise to be a good godmother to Jocelyn. It was supposed to be their last chance to be together and pretend everything was okay like they were just a young couple in love enjoying each other's company.

Tears stung in the back of her eyes and she fought with everything she had to keep it together. Dante could still come running in any second and how would she explain it to everyone if she fell apart for no reason? Maybe it was nothing more than a coincidence that he was late and Sonny was a no show.

She knew better.

She had seen the same fear reflected in Olivia's eyes when she realized her son and her childhood friend were both late. She had tried to keep the panic from her voice, but Lulu had heard it, just like she had felt her own dread swelling in her chest. Carly came over to tell her it was time to start and Olivia whispered to Lulu that she would find out what was going on.

Too much time had passed for it to be nothing. The christening was almost over and Olivia had not come back. Her mind came up with excuses for Dante, excuses for Sonny, excuses that could be perfectly logical under ordinary circumstances. But these weren't ordinary circumstances and her heart was telling her that everything was not going to be okay. She tried to blame her paranoia on her cynical nature, but she couldn't.

Her world was about to fall apart and there was nothing she could do except hold the baby and smile like everything was fine.

She repeated the words the priest told her to, watched as Jason did the same. Her eyes searched his face. Did he know where Sonny was? Did he know the truth about Dante? Did he do something to him and then walk into church and stand next to her without a care in the world? His expression was typically blank, his face never gave anything away and she hated him at that very moment.

Her eyes shifted back to the doors and she willed Dante to walk through them. She'd never been good at relying on wishes or hopes, because she knew life was never going to be a fairy tale. But the alternative was too horrible to consider.

Everyone was clapping and Carly was holding her arms out for the baby. The ceremony was over. She was free to go and find Dante herself. She handed Carly the baby and before she could mutter a lie, her cell phone began to vibrate from the tiny purse dangling off her wrist. She pulled it out and with her heart jumping in her chest; she looked at the caller id.

Olivia.

She didn't need to answer the call; she knew the news wasn't good. Suddenly, everyone around her seemed to be talking so loud, their voices echoing in her head. Their worlds were going to continue and hers –

She couldn't – wouldn't - finish the thought. She started to run, down the aisle, past everyone and their curious stares, through the doors, toward the parking lot. She heard several people shout her name, but she didn't care. She had to get to Dante. It wasn't too late. She wouldn't let it be too late.

The parking lot was a sea of cars and she couldn't find hers. Think, Lulu, where did she park? She turned in a circle; the tears were back and fighting harder to fall. She wasn't going to let them. She had to find her car.

A hand on her arm made her jump, a small scream escaped from her lips before she could stop it and when she whirled around, Johnny Zacchara was there. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and glared at him, daring him to try and stop her.

"I'll drive you," he said simply. He gestured to his car; it was parked close to the exit. She heard more voices and knew people were going to follow them out and ask questions. She didn't have time for questions.

She nodded once and told him to hurry.

They didn't speak when they got in the car; Johnny didn't say a word as he peeled out of the parking lot and gunned the engine. She wanted to ask what Olivia had told him, but she feared the answer, so she remained silent. He didn't offer any words of comfort or hope and she knew her worst fear had come true.

It was a ten minute drive from the church to the hospital and even though Johnny got them there in seven, it still felt like the longest car ride of her life. She pushed the car door open before he came to a complete stop and she was running again, running through the doors to the emergency room, running to get to Dante.

Instead, she found Sonny.

He sat alone in the waiting area, his hands folded in his lap, the color drained from his face, a far-off look in his eyes. His expensive suit looked impeccable except for a dark stain that had spread over his right sleeve.

Blood. Dante's blood.

"Where is he?" Lulu strode to him; saw the flash of surprise in his eyes and then a flash of something else. If she didn't know better, she would have thought it was shame.

"Surgery," Sonny replied. His voice was low; his gaze didn't meet hers fully.

Surgery meant he was still alive, but she wasn't going to be grateful in front of Sonny, not yet, not when she still had questions. "What did you do to him?"

He looked up again, this time his eyes did meet hers. "I shot him."

The words seemed comical to her for some reason. Sonny was calmly sitting there telling her that he shot the man she loved. His suit was stained with Dante's blood. She wondered if she was in shock. Was it possible to be in shock when she had known this was coming? Dante had warned her from the beginning that this was going to happen.

"He told me you would kill him and I told him he was wrong." The words came out of her mouth before she realized she was saying them. She thought about that day in Dante's room when she had found him giving evidence to Ronnie. She had been so smug, so self-righteous, so sure that Sonny would never lift a hand against him because he was Olivia's son.

"He told me that you would kill him without batting an eye and I defended you. How stupid am I, Sonny? I actually believed you were a decent man. I trusted you." Lulu laughed a bitter, cold sound.

She waited expectantly for an answer and was greeted by silence. She saw that look in Sonny's eyes again, the look of shame. But that didn't make sense to her. Why would he feel shame? He was getting what he wanted.

"Why are you even here? You have no right to be here after what you did to Dante." His name sounded foreign on her lips after all these months of calling him Dominic, but she was pleased when Sonny flinched.

"Does it bother you to hear me say his name?" She bent down, leaned over so she was inches from his face. "Dante. Dante Falconeri. Dante is the man I love. I love him, Sonny! Do you hear me?" She was shouting now, but she didn't care. She wanted him to feel her suffering.

She felt Johnny's hand on her elbow, pulling her back from Sonny. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't done yet, she had more to say, but when she turned her head, she saw Olivia walking out of the emergency room. Her eyes were too wide, her cheeks were stained with tears and there was blood on her dress.

Lulu went to her, threw her arms around her and held on for dear life. Olivia's arms came around her and she hugged her back with everything she had left. "He asked for you," she said. Her hand stroked Lulu's hair. "He asked for you."

The tears she'd been fighting began to fall, hard and fast. The questions she was afraid to ask swirled in her head, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud. Once she said them, once Olivia answered the question, there was no going back.

She wanted to be strong for Dante, the way he had been strong for her. When Franco had her tied to that bomb, he'd come for her. He'd been scared, afraid of losing her and he'd held it together until they were both safe. He'd done the same thing when she was drowning in the ice cold water. Dante held her and kept her going. She owed it to him to do the same.

"How is he?" She couldn't bring herself to let go of Olivia or even to look up into her eyes. She was only so brave.

"He's in bad shape," Olivia replied, her voice cracking with pain. "He lost a lot of blood and the bullet was still lodged in his chest." She hugged Lulu tighter, her eyes falling briefly on Johnny and finally landing on Sonny. The guilt on his face stirred her own anguish. She could have prevented all of this pain if she had only told the truth when she had the chance.

"Is he going to make it?"

The question coming from Sonny's mouth had Lulu pulling away from Olivia, whirling around to face him with murder in her eyes. "How dare you? What gives you the right to ask that question?" Her voice was ice cold, her hatred clear. If it were up to her, he would be the one in surgery struggling to survive.

"He's my son."

Lulu's mouth dropped open, nothing he could have said would have shocked her more. Her breath hitched in her throat as Sonny's words echoed in her head. She saw the surprise flash across Johnny's face, but it was quickly replaced by something else, realization.

"You've known all along whom Dante's father is." Johnny's voice was quieter than usual, his tone laced with hurt, his eyes accusing when they met Olivia's.

Lulu turned back to Dante's mother, waited for her to deny it or tell them it was a mistake. It wasn't possible that Sonny could be Dante's father. But her eyes had filled with fresh tears and she nodded, just once, before she spoke.

"I've always known Sonny was Dante's father."

Her hand connected with Olivia's cheek before Lulu even realized she had moved, the force of the slap reverberating through her entire body. "You could have prevented all of this. Dante trusted you!" She watched more tears fall, Olivia's gaze shifted to the floor. "Don't you dare look away."

Olivia lifted her head, her eyes filled with shame and regret when they met Lulu's cold gaze. "I thought I could protect him."

"You could have protected him." Lulu spoke slowly, wanting each of her words to hit home. "You could have told Sonny the truth or better yet, you could have told Dante the truth. You might as well have shot him yourself for all the good you did trying to protect him."

Her words hurt worse than the slap because Olivia knew she was right. Everything she was saying was true. She had failed her baby in the worst way.

"I'm so sorry."

Lulu shook her head, disgusted by the nerve of this woman who claimed to love Dante more than anything. "I don't want your apologies any more than I want his." She jerked her arm toward Sonny. "Dante deserves better than both of you." She turned away from Olivia, ignored Sonny and sat down in a chair facing the doors to the emergency room.

None of them mattered. Even as her rage simmered at the surface, the pain was starting to break through. Dante was on the other side of those doors fighting for his life and none of this was going to matter if he wasn't okay. Closing her eyes and biting her lip to try and stop the tears, Lulu shut everyone else out and concentrated on Dante. He would get through this. He had to get through this.

She wasn't going to survive if he didn't get through this.

She remained where she was, watching the doors and focused on the moment when the doctors would come out and tell her Dante was going to be okay and ignored the chaos that began to pour in around her.

Jason arrived first, with Sam on his heels. He wanted Sonny to leave, Sonny refused. Carly and Jax came next with Michael and Morgan. Stunned silence followed the announcement that Dominic was actually their older brother and he was fighting for his life because Sonny had shot him. The inevitable shouting came next, accusations were hurled in all directions, but Lulu stayed where she was, her eyes locked on the doors.

She felt Carly's hand on her shoulder, saw the hurt and confusion in her cousin's eyes, but she didn't move, didn't offer any explanation. This wasn't about Carly or her hurt feelings or Lulu's reasons for keeping her mouth shut. This was about Dante.

She heard Michael say that Dominic deserved what he got because he was a cop and a liar and a backstabber. Calmly, she rose from her seat, prepared to unleash her wrath and anguish on him, make him wish he'd never been born. But Morgan beat her to it. He punched his brother in the stomach and yelled in his face. She sat back down to wait.

Eventually, the entire room was packed with people, everyone who had been at the christening had seen her run out, watched Johnny, Jason and eventually Carly follow. The story had spread through whispers and shouts. Dominic was actually Dante. He was Olivia's son. He was Sonny's son. Sonny had shot him.

She took a minute to really think about the absurdity of the situation. Half the town was there and they knew that Sonny had taken a gun and shot an undercover cop who was trying to arrest him. But he was allowed to sit there with them and wait for news on Dante like it was the most normal thing in the world.

It was sickening.

She felt someone drop into the chair beside her, reach for her hand. She lifted her eyes, turned her head, ready to go on the defensive.

"I'm here," Lucky said simply.

She nodded, fresh tears coating her cheeks and rested her head on his shoulder. He squeezed her hand, but said nothing. He knew better than to offer words of encouragement or false promises.

Together, they waited. Voices around them rose and fell. More people came; more questions were asked and answered. Doctors and nurses passed through the room, but there was no news, only waiting.

Finally, the doors opened and Steven Webber walked out, Monica Quatermaine was at his side. The room became eerily silent, all eyes on the two doctors. Lulu felt her heart begin to beat even faster, her hand shook inside Lucky's and she held her breath, willing the doctors to tell her what she wanted to hear.

"The surgery was a success," Steven said.

A collective gasp went through the room, murmurs of relief followed. Lulu remained still, waiting for Steven to finish.

"He lost a lot of blood and he's going to be out of commission for awhile, but given his age and his overall health, he should make a full recovery."

She heard Olivia's "thank God" and a cheer from Morgan. Lucky was hugging her now and telling her Dante was going to make it. She couldn't be happy just yet, not until she saw him with her own eyes.

"He can only have one visitor right now," Steven announced. He found Olivia in the crowd. "Would you like to come back?"

"It should be Lulu," Olivia said softly. "He would want Lulu to be there."

She rose from her seat and rushed through the doors without looking back at Olivia or anyone else. She hesitated briefly, not sure where to go and then Steven came over and guided her to his room. He was telling her that Dante was asleep and it might be awhile before he woke up and not to expect too much, but she wasn't listening. Leaving Steven in the hallway, Lulu pushed open the door.

Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw him lying in the hospital bed. He was pale, he was hooked up to machines and there was a tube in his nose to help him breathe. But he was alive and he was going to wake up and come back to her. She waited for the relief to wash over her, but it didn't.

She went to his bedside, sat down in the small plastic chair and reached for his hand. It was warm in hers and she brought it to her face. "Can you hear me, Dante? I need you to wake up. Please."

Her voice cracked and she started to cry again. Her throat burned with tears, she swallowed hard and tried to keep talking. "I'm here, Dante." She could see his bandages through the hospital gown, the bandages covering the hole in his chest where Sonny had shot him.

"I'm so sorry I didn't believe you." She choked on her sobs. "You told me what Sonny would do and I told you he was a good guy. I'm so sorry."

Keeping his hand in hers, she leaned over his bed; let her head rest on his stomach. She thought about all the time they had wasted, mainly because of her. She'd pushed him away because she'd been afraid, so afraid of letting him into her heart. "I wont ever make that mistake again, Dante. I love you so much."

"I love you too."

Her head shot up, her eyes locked on his face; his brown eyes were open, focused on hers. "Dante." She jumped from her chair, threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips firmly to his. He didn't hesitate to kiss her back.

Only then did the relief finally wash over her.


End file.
